rory-ks

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Posts by rory-ks

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  13

  101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  victory mansions/cigarettes/gin/square.

  anything jehovah's witnesses get to name is either "watchtower," "kingdom," or "new world," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or bible.. .

  he took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked victory gin.

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  rory-ks
• 
  13

  101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  victory mansions/cigarettes/gin/square.

  anything jehovah's witnesses get to name is either "watchtower," "kingdom," or "new world," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or bible.. .

  he took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked victory gin.

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  rory-ks

  ...
• 
  13

  101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  victory mansions/cigarettes/gin/square.

  anything jehovah's witnesses get to name is either "watchtower," "kingdom," or "new world," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or bible.. .

  he took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked victory gin.

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  rory-ks

  And please, anyone, read the article and feel free to add more ways that you think have been left out. It is a fascinating subject.
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  13

  101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  victory mansions/cigarettes/gin/square.

  anything jehovah's witnesses get to name is either "watchtower," "kingdom," or "new world," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or bible.. .

  he took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked victory gin.

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  rory-ks

  Oh, I agree, Julia. The whole thing - lock, stock, and barrel - finds a parallel in the Organisation. And why shouldn't it - it is after all describing a totalitarian state.
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  13

  101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  victory mansions/cigarettes/gin/square.

  anything jehovah's witnesses get to name is either "watchtower," "kingdom," or "new world," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or bible.. .

  he took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked victory gin.

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  rory-ks

  Victory Mansions/cigarettes/gin/Square

  Anything Jehovah's Witnesses get to name is either "Watchtower," "Kingdom," or "New World," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or Bible.

  Victory Gin

  He took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked VICTORY GIN. It gave off a sickly, oily smell, as of Chinese rice-spirit. Winston poured out nearly a teacupful, nerved himself for a shock, and gulped it down like a dose of medicine. Instantly his face turned scarlet and the water ran out of his eyes. The stuff was like nitric acid, and moreover, in swallowing it one had the sensation of being hit on the back of the head with a rubber club. The next moment, however, the burning in his belly died down and the world began to look more cheerful.

  The experience of drinking in the "pure water" of spiritual "truth" is more akin to having a shot of Victory gin.

  We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness

  More often he wondered where he was, and what time of day it was. At one moment he felt certain it was broad daylight outside, and at the next equally certain that it was pitch darkness. In this place he knew instinctively, the lights would never be turned out. It was the place with no darkness.

  "Do you know what time of day it is?" he said.

  Ampleforth looked startled again. "I had hardly thought about it. They arrested me - it could be two days ago - perhaps three." His eyes flitted round the walls, as though he half expected to find a window somewhere.

  "There is no difference between night and day in this place. I do not see how one can calculate the time."

  It is not true to say that all Kingdom Halls have no windows, but windowless halls can prove to be alarmingly disorienting, and the Society is not averse to approving them.

  Hate Week

  There was a time when Watchtower conventions lasted for a whole week - eight days, in fact - full of talks lambasting false religion, governments, and the United Nations. These days, although they are only over a weekend, the Society still finds opportunity to hate on religion or "apostates".

  Big Brother

  On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

  Jehovah's Witnesses like to be reminded of Psalm 11:4. "Jehovah is in his holy temple. Jehovah’s throne is in the heavens. His own eyes see, his watchful eyes examine the sons of men." 2 Chronicles 16:9 and Proverbs 15:3 are often deployed in the same way. It is dressed in words of love, but the warning is ever present - your sins will find you out.

  There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment...You had to live - did live, from habit that became instinct - in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.

  Big Brother is not Jehovah, per se, but he is personified in Jehovah's "representative," the Governing Body, aka the "faithful and discreet slave."

  ***************************

  That's the binary version. If you would like to read the full "how-many-fingers-am-I-holding-up" version I have posted it here: 101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984
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  36

  Changes to Watchtower publication pictures

  by rory-ks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  are there any more examples like this?

  pictures changed because a person was disfellowshipped?.

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  rory-ks

  Thank you, tunnistaja.ee - and everyone for their help in this discussion.

  What the hell's going on with this one?

  

  Does anyone have publication dates on these editions (and better pictures of the ones on the right, if possible.)
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  36

  Changes to Watchtower publication pictures

  by rory-ks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  are there any more examples like this?

  pictures changed because a person was disfellowshipped?.

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  rory-ks

  

  Are there any more examples like this? Pictures changed because a person was disfellowshipped?
• 
  103

  Additional BOE Letter: Please Be Advised that Further Direction Will Soon be Sent to the Bodies of Elders...

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dear brothers:.

  we are writing as a follow-up to the letters dated january 24, 2014, and march 29, 2014,. to all congregations regarding the adjustments now underway to accelerate construction of king-.

  dom halls and assembly halls.. .

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  rory-ks

  Any updates on this?

  The original letter stated that elders must put the resolution to the congregation before May 31. Has that date been pushed back - or, "held in abeyance"?
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  6

  Shameless self-promotion...

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was hoping that there would be some discreet corner of this forum where members could post about their own little ventures - but there is none, so i'll just go down the route of brash, shameless self-promotion.. after the leaking of the judicial committee videos, which had a (some word i can't think of just yet) effect on me, and in the spirit of jeni lundblomvaldez's article over at aawa.co, ex-jws: stop respecting the watchtowers wishes, i have decided to start my own blog, the carpenter's arms.

  the reason for the name will become apparent.. there is not much going on there at the moment - the doors have only just been thrown open - but feel free to come over and say hello.. .

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  rory-ks

  It is not just a rehash of old material. There are a couple of new articles:

  On the futility of writing to the Governing Body

  Brief exchange with a circuit overseer

  And an updated article, re-edited to reflect recent changes:

  Occupy Jehovah's Witnesses: When the 0.1% are the 99.9%
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  53

  Are You Moving Ahead With Jehovah’s Organization? Study WT May 2014

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  obedience is key in the paragraph below and the urgency is also emphasised with an exclaimation mark.. .

  10 the earthly part of gods organization is moving ahead in many ways.

  it helps us understand bible truth more and more clearly.

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  rory-ks

  There is an Awake! article - Winning the Fight Against Depression, 22 October, 1987 - that makes reference to the excellent book by David D Burns MD, Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy, in which he outlines 10 distorted thinking patterns. On page 13 the article lists six of his original ten. Conspicuous by its absense is the distorted thinking pattern of using "should" statements - telling ourselves what we "should," "must," or "ought" to be doing. When you look at that paragraph KateWild quoted, just that one paragraph, see how many times the word "should" and "must" turn up.

  Watchtower literature is chock full of "should" and "must" statements - no wonder they left it out of the Awake! article. It is negative thinking, and the Society's literature is replete with it.

  Burns calls it mental musterbation. LOL.